


Long Overdue

by BookWyrmGal



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Angst, At least I think so? I'm so desensitized at this point I'm not sure, At least that I've shared, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I'm Bad At Tagging, Identity Reveal, My First Fanfic, Not Phantom Planet Compliant (Danny Phantom), One Shot, Other, So I hope you're satisfied., no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-21
Updated: 2019-11-21
Packaged: 2021-02-18 10:47:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21509806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BookWyrmGal/pseuds/BookWyrmGal
Summary: She watches as Danny seems to stare at it for a long time. She can't quite tell if he's actually looking at the Boo-merang, or just staring off into space. Finally, he seems to get over whatever mental hurdle he was facing, and meets her eyes."Mom, can I talk to you?"---Or, in which Danny builds up the courage to have a long overdue conversation with his mom.
Relationships: Danny Fenton & Maddie Fenton
Comments: 13
Kudos: 524





	Long Overdue

**Author's Note:**

> So I never planned on posting a DP fic as my first fic. But this is the first fic I've managed to complete in a long time so here we are. Go easy on me usually my writing is just brain vomit meant for my eyes only.

"Mom?"

Maddie jumped so hard she nearly dropped the screwdriver in her hand. She hadn't heard Danny enter the lab, he was so quiet - but then, she had been really focused. She turned around to look at her son.

Danny lingered in the entranceway. His gaze was on the floor and his expression was equal parts nervous and determined. Whatever was on his mind, it seemed like it was weighing heavy on him.

"Danny? What is it?"

He shuffled bit in place. His eyes flickered to hers, briefly, before looking away again. "Um" His gaze landed on the project she was working on. "So, uh, what are you working on?"

His question was clearly a way to stall. Maddie decided let him for now. "I'm trying to find out what's wrong with the Boo-merang. I can't seem to figure out why it keeps targeting you."

She watches as Danny seems to stare at it for a long time. She can't quite tell if he's actually looking at the Boo-merang, or just staring off into space. Finally, he seems to get over whatever mental hurdle he was facing, and meets her eyes.

"Mom, can I talk to you?"

"Of course, sweetie! You can always talk to me, about anything." She knows what this must be about. For as much as her and Jack may be oblivious at times, she would have to be blind not to have noticed that something's been up with her son for - has it really been almost a year? That's a long time. Too long for her to not have done something about it, for all that they've tried to give Danny his space, and she feels a bit of guilt at the realization.

Danny doesn't quite look like he believes her, but seems to accept the words regardless. "Um, do you think we could go upstairs?"

Maddie nods and watches him return up the stairs almost too quickly. She stands to follow him, and pauses. She's not sure what it is, maybe it's the way Danny seemed to stare at the Boo-merang, or his reluctance to remain in the lab, but something tells Maddie to leave her ecto-weapons behind. She takes off her utility belt. She feels almost naked without it, but her gut is telling her it's the right thing to do. With one final glance at her unfinished project, she heads upstairs.

She finds Danny pacing in the kitchen, his steps eerily quiet on the tile floor. He stops when she comes in. He seems to study her, as though gauging her reaction, and she has to wonder when he became so jumpy around her. There's a flicker of surprise when he notices her missing utility belt and, much to her relief, he seems to relax a bit. He opens and closes his mouth a couple times, as though trying to find the right words, and Maddie waits patiently for him to find them.

"So, um. Where do I start? I've, ugh, I've never actually had to explain this to anyone, Sam and Tucker where there and Jazz just kinda figured it out and there the only people who know so- I'm rambling. Just, let me explain all of it and get to the end, before you jump to any conclusions, okay? I need you to keep an open mind here." 

That really worries Maddie, but Danny looks so nervous, so she nods. "Of course, I'll do my best."

"Thank you." The thanks is so genuine it makes her heart hurt. He closes eyes for a moment to think. "I guess… the best place to start… would be with the portal."

"The portal?"

He nods, but opens his eyes. "You remember how I said I got it working?"

She gives him a confused look. "You said you and your friends went to check it out after we left. You wanted to see what was wrong with it, but when you got close it shocked you a bit and started up on it's own…" Dread began to stir in her stomach. 

"Yeah, that's... not exactly what happened."

"Danny?"

He rubbed the back of his neck, a nervous tick he got from his father. "Did you know there's an on/off switch inside the portal?"

Now she was very confused. "Yes… we installed it as a safety precaution, so if anyone was inside when it turned on they could hit the switch to turn it back off. But Danny, how did you… know…" Horrible realization dawned on her. "Danny." Her tone was pleading, begging him to tell her she was wrong. "That's over 300 milliamps of electricity and ecto-energy. If you were inside when the portal started you'd be-"

"Dead, I know. I wasn't, exactly, unaffected." He seems to contemplate how to explain this before a look of determination crosses his face. He walks over to the kitchen table…

...and puts his hand _through_ it.

It takes her brain a minute to process that. But no, it definitely in the table, which could only be done with- with- intangibility. But only ghosts can use intangibility.

_"...you'd be-"_

_"Dead, I know."_

"You're a ghost." Her voice is barely a whisper. She collapses into a chair as her knees give at the realization. "Danny- Oh Danny we _killed_ you!" Her voice cracks and tears spring unbidden into her eyes. It feels like she's suffocating.

Danny looks startled as she says this, and jerks his hand out of the table. "What? Mom, no! No you didn't!"

"But-"

He grabs her hand and she would've flinched at how cold his skin is if she wasn't so shocked. "Here." He puts her hand over his chest.

There's a moment where she doesn't feel anything and her own heart skips a beat as her fears are confirmed but then-

_Thu-thump._

Her breath catches. She waits for it again.

_Thu-thump._

That's undeniably a heartbeat. "But… how?"

"I'm not sure, to be honest." Danny chuckles humorlessly. "The other ghosts call us Halfas - half human, half ghost. I don't know if I, like, half died or if I'm somehow simultaneously a ghost and a human at the same time." He looks her in the eyes. "But I _am alive._ "

And his expression is just so _Danny_ that between that and the consistent, if slow, heartbeat - she believes him. It should be impossible, but then Danny has always been full of surprises, hasn't he?

"Oh Danny." The tears in her eyes finally break free and she pulls him into a hug. He flinches at first - _How must he have felt, with us always talking about hunting, destroying, dissecting ghosts around him?_ \- but relaxes into the embrace. No wonder he was so nervous.

All too soon though he pulls away. Maddie studies the look on his face. "Danny?"

"Um, there's more, actually." He's refusing to look at her again.

Her concern grows even more, but she nods. "I'm listening."

He waves his hand in the air for a moment, looking for the right words. "So, I know have like human DNA and ghost 'DNA', or something, and that sometimes the ghost DNA is mostly dormant - like now. But I can sort of 'activate' some of that ghost. Like when I use my powers. But if I activate all of my ghost DNA so that it's more dominant than my human side, I change."

Maddie cocks her head, trying to understand. "So you have a ghost form?"

He looks pleased that his explanation made sense. "Exactly! But um…" The pleased expression quickly reverts to his nervous one. "You've, actually, seen my ghost form before…"

She's shocked by this. "I have? And I didn't recognize you?"

Danny shakes his head. "No one has without seeing me change. Which is a surprise because I don't really look that different…"

He takes a deep breath steeling himself. "Just. Keep an open mind, okay?"

She's worried that he feels the need to remind her of that. She takes his hands in hers and makes him look at her.

"Danny, you're my baby, I trust you. And I'm your mom, you can trust me. No matter who you are, I'll always love you."

He studies her for a long while, then takes a shaky breath and nods. "Okay."

He takes a couple steps back from her. She thinks she hears him half-heartedly mutter something along the lines of "going ghost" before a bright white ring springs to life around his torso. The ring splits in two, one traveling up over his chest, and the other down towards his legs. Where it passes over him his clothes change and his body begins to glow. He changes into wearing a black and white hazmat- _No._ She refuses to believe it, until it passes over his chest revealing a familiar DP logo. It passes over his head, changing his precious blue eyes into acidic green and his raven black hair into startling white - the unmistakable visage of Danny Phantom.

Fenton, Phantom. Oh ghost, it was even a _pun_. How could they have not realized? They must be idiots to not realize.

Danny get scared by her silence. "I promise I can explain everything! The mayor, the bank robberies, that destruction - all of it! I wasn't trying to do anything wrong but-"

"Danny I'm so sorry!" His voice has the same eerie echo as always but now she can hear that it's clearly Danny's. She feels tears building her eyes again but she forces them back.

He looks startled again by her reaction. "What?"

Maddie takes a deep breath. "I'm sorry. For hunting you. For never giving you a chance to explain yourself. For all the time we talked about…" _Destroying you, experimenting on you, tearing you apart._ "...hurting you. Oh Danny, how much we must have hurt you! I can't apologize enough."

He looks almost sheepish. "You really didn't hurt me that much. Not as much as the other ghosts…"

She doesn't know if that makes her feel better or worse. "Still." She pulls him into another hug. He doesn't flinch this time. "I'm sorry."

He shakes his head on her shoulder. "I'm sorry for never telling you. It was just- at first I was scared, and then it just never seemed like the right time, and then it was that I had gone so long I didn't know how I could tell you."

She frowns a bit. "So why did you decide to now, if I may ask?"

She feels more than sees him smirk. "Jazz." He chuckles a bit. "She told me that you were going to find out eventually, and that it would be better if told you, and that it would only get worse the longer I waited… I realized with Dad being gone for a few days this would be my best chance to talk to you, and then you could help me talk to Dad…"

Maddie gives him a squeeze. "Jazz was right you know."

"I know, I know! And she's not going to let it go either."

She laughs at the childishness of the moment. Eventually, they pull away, both smiling.

"Well, I guess I know what's up with the Boo-merang now."

There's a moment of surprise from Danny, then they both break into laughter, the tension of the moment leaving them. It's the most genuine his laughter has sounded in a long time.

And, really, that's the most she could ask for.

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah... ending there is a bit rough but I was getting really tired and just wanted to get it done. I'm terrible at proofreading so if there's any errors let me know. Constructive criticism is appreciated as long as you're not a jerk about it.


End file.
